Play in honour of 70 years since women in Montenegro won the right to vote

The multimedia play ''Women's political history'' was designed to mark the occasion of 70 years of voting rights for women in Montenegro. Envisaged as a short overview of key events in the history of women’s political activism in Montenegro, the play also raises the question of how far women have succeeded in their efforts over decades to obtain political space and assume political responsibility on an equal basis with men.

The play covers the period from the 1930s, when women for the first time rejected patriarchal norms and fought for their rights, including voting rights in 1946. It spans the establishment of Antifascist Women's Movement, through its dissolution and women’s return into households after the 60s, to the anti-war movement in the 90s to the present political moment in Montenegro led by contemporary western influence and human rights agenda. It eventually leads to the conclusion that women’s status hasn’t substantially changed, and that that political requests women have now are on many levels similar to those that women had in the 40ies.

The play will be performed on December 11, as an introduction to the Regional Conference Advancing the Gender Equality Agenda in the Western Balkans and Turkey which is dedicated to the gender equality and women's position in the society. It will provide an insight into the context of women’s struggle to have their voice heard and be on equal terms with men. It is worthwhile noting that all the countries of former Yugoslavia gained voting rights for women at the same time, as a result of activism of the feminist movement. As the history of women’s political activism in Montenegro is similar to that of women in the region, it is expected that the audience will react enthusiastically to it, as was the case during the play’s first performance in Montenegrin National Theater in June this year.

The author of the play is a Montenegrin theatre scriptwriter, Natasa Nelevic. It is directed by a renowned director, Marija Perovic and performed by three Montenegrin actresses, Dubravka Drakic, Ivana Mrvaljevic and Kristina Stevovic. It presents a combination of fiction, where particular situations from women’s lives in different periods are portrayed, accompanied by excerpts from documentary movies and photos, and with music characteristic of that particular period in history.

It is performed in Montenegrin with English subtitles. The duration is about 60 minutes.